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New Mexico's chief federal judge issued an emergency restraining order Monday to protect the tenuous immigration status of a newly ordained Nigerian-born priest with the Archdiocese of Santa Fe.

Martin Nchedo Umeatuegbu, known as Father Martin to his congregation and others, has only been a Catholic priest in New Mexico for a week and a half, but was due to lose his employment authorization Friday under an expiring academic student visa.

"The Archdiocese has spent considerable time, money, and effort to support Plaintiff Umeatuegbu in becoming a deacon and then a priest," stated the Archdiocese petition for a temporary restraining order filed May 22. "Furthermore, the loss of (Fr. Martin) will place additional strain on other priests in the Archdiocese to cover his duties鈥�and in ministering to the sick at a local hospital."

He was ordained May 23 at Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Santa Fe.

Umeatuegbu entered the U.S. in 2024 under the visa to participate in the theology program at Mount Angel Seminary, and obtained his master's degree. He served as a deacon at St. Anne's Catholic parish in Santa Fe for the past year and planned to continue there as a priest.

The Archdiocese in January filed a petition for a visa to permit him religious worker authorization upon the expiration of the student visa, but that has been on hold for months.

Nigeria was included among the countries the Trump administration targeted in December for limited foreign national entry, citing national security.

Under the filing rules, a petition can't be filed more than six months prior to the date employment is scheduled to begin.

With its application for a religious worker visa in limbo, the archdiocese filed a petition in federal court May 22 arguing that there would immediate and irreparable injury if the federal court didn't issue the temporary restraining order to allow him to keep working temporarily.

Chief U.S. District Judge Kenneth Gonzales of sa国际传媒官网网页入口 on Monday agreed with the request. During a brief hearing, the judge also noted that attorneys for the federal government didn't attend or file any written response to the TRO request.

The TRO lasts for 14 days but can be extended, the judge ruled.

Gonzales ruled the archdiocese is likely to prevail in its argument that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services decision to place a hold on issuing the religious worker visa has "severely hindered (the Archdiocese's) First Amendment rights to employ its minister of choice."

"Staying the expiration of his (work) visa will preserve the status quo," Gonzales said.

The archdiocese's attorney, Olsi Vrapi, told the judge that Father Martin is authorized to remain in the U.S. while the petition for the R-1 religious worker status is pending.

But Vrapi said that "technically" the new priest could be placed in removal proceedings later this summer, a precursor to possible deportation by the U.S.

Vrapi didn't respond to Journal requests for an interview. Neither did the U.S. Attorney's Office in sa国际传媒官网网页入口 on Monday.

Gonzales opted for now not to consider a more permanent ruling on whether immigration authorities are violating the archdiocese's and Umeatuegbu's free exercise of religion by deliberately not acting on the visa petition.